Category Archives: Mexican Hair Comb

From the English, we know that different fittings can make an extraordinary piece of jewelry into a practical object. Consider multiple functions for a set of diamond brooches.

I have always felt you can take a brooch to a jeweler and ask him or her to make a barrette fitting in addition to the pinback. This simple act increases your choice of ornaments 100-fold.

Movie stars have made fashion history doing this.

Here are some brooches I would wear in my hair.

J.E. Caldwell was an American jeweler from Philadelphia. He was known for his Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces and made this platinum-mesh and diamond bow c. 1920.

Boucheron made this feather out of gold, rubies, and diamonds in 1940.

A member of the elite jewelers of Taxco, Antonio Pineda made this brooch c. 1955.

Born in the tenements of NYC’s Lower East Side to immigrant parents, he took the name Seaman because he could see the Seaman’s Savings Bank from his apartment window. From the 1930’s to the 1950’s, Mr. Schepps’s pioneering designs attracted customers such as the Duchess of Windsor and Franklin Roosevelt. He designed this set of opal and diamond butterfly pins, which could easily be worn as two side barrettes, c. 1960.

David Webb made this posy of violets in the 1980’s. The violets are sapphires with emerald centers on jade leaves with diamond stems.

Van Cleef & Arpels made this Christmas rose out of angel-skin coral and diamonds in 2000.

Finally, a hair comb by Georg Jensen himself.

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For more scholarly research, please examine these books, which can be found in our Resource Library

Here are my picks from around the web. This masterpiece was brought to my attention by The Creative Museum. Merci, Monsieur Touzinaud. The most magnificent cameos are those where the artist gives the natural coloration in the stone a purpose in his carved figure. In these stunning examples, the color defines flowers in the women’s…… Continue Reading

This stunning Manchu hair pin with every kingfisher feather in place, superb-quality jade, and coral branches sold for $800 on E-bay, October 28, 2011. The pin was in perfect condition. Look at the back: the intricacy of how each stone and feathered piece is set, as well as long tines, seal the deal. Also on…… Continue Reading

Born in Mexico City and better known as Matl, Maestra Matilde Poulat started making jewelry in 1934. She became one of the most famous artists of the Mexican Silver Renaissance. Detailing and texture gave her art a delicacy and intricacy few achieved during the the Taxco era. She decorated her pieces with coral and turquoise…… Continue Reading

Although the silver mines of Taxco are the most famous region for Mexican jewelry, illustrations of modern life were also inked on horn combs. This piece was made in the 1970’s. Mairin Bulldozer Connor identified the bird as a Tricolored Heron catching a bass on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. What I love about it is that…… Continue Reading

In 1946, Frida gave this miniature self-portrait to her lover Jose Bartoli, signing it “Para Bartoli con amor.” However, scholars believe she painted it in 1938. Young and serene, the poppies in her hair are her heart, her blood, her soul, and her intimate femininity. The portrait measures 2″ by 1 5/8″ and has an…… Continue Reading

This set of three combs, two for the sides, one for the back, c. 1850, was probably French, as its gilt decorations depict the Napoleonic style. Central to the motif is the Eagle of Mexico, as pearls detail throughout. They sold for $3088. … Continue Reading

When women have creative power so strong it borders on madness, their lives are full of sadness and pain — especially from the way the men who shape them, treat them. Consider Suzanne Farrell-Balanchine; Maria Callas-Onassis; Camille Claudel-Rodin; Freida Khalo-Diego Rivera. But Frieda Khalo grabs you with her eyes. Her hair is original, beautiful, in…… Continue Reading

As the Mexican Revolution brought social upheaval to the country from 1910 to 1921, Mexicans were struggling not only to bring economic justice to the poor, but to cast off a European cultural identity in favor of an indigenous one. They began to study pre-Columbian folk art, looking to treasures found in archeological ruins for inspiration.A…… Continue Reading

Barbara Steinberg is the daughter of the late conductor Benjamin Steinberg, founding Artistic Director of the Symphony of the New World, the first fully integrated orchestra in America.

She has been an online community manager for 20 years, including creating the first multimedia community on the web in 1998, to managing a community of CIO's at Computerworld, to moderating online safety in massively multiplayer online games like Habbo and Moshi Monsters.

She is also a life-long collector of hair ornaments.

BarbaraAnne's Hair Comb Blog started 10 years ago because antique dealers were treating hair combs like the throwaway items of estate sales. An online movement to change this and showcase collections exhibited in museums was needed. For her work, she was invited to present with The Creative Museum.

Delightfully, her blog community has merged with the Ethnic Jewels community to add more richness and scholarship to the field of Ethnic Jewelry.

BarbaraAnne and all the kids around the world at Habbo send a message to you: Peace on Earth.